Rape charge reduced to burglary

Man sentenced to serve three years in prison

A man who broke into a downtown Juneau house and allegedly raped a woman was sentenced to prison Monday.

Bartholomew Jack, 38, pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary under an agreement with prosecutors to dismiss a sexual assault charge stemming from the incident on June 13, 1999.

He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault, stemming from a separate incident in which Jack allegedly grabbed a woman by her arms and slapped her face.

Juneau Superior Court Judge Larry Weeks sentenced Jack to six years in prison, with three years suspended, for the burglary. The burglary charge referred to entering the home with the intent to commit rape.

Weeks added a year in prison for the separate assault charge. Jack will be on probation for five years.

Weeks said burglary with the intent to commit sexual assault is the kind of offense that most people dread the most. ``It's probably everyone's worst nightmare.''

Assistant District Attorney Sue McLean said Jack broke into the house, where he was an invited guest earlier, using a driver's license. She said it was clear Jack didn't expect to get consent for sex.

McLean said it was troubling how many times Jack has engaged in similar kinds of behavior and benefited from reduced or short sentences. But McLean wouldn't say why the state dismissed the sexual assault charge.

Jack was convicted in 1984 for a similar burglary and attempted sexual offense in Stebbins, a village near Nome. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

According to court documents, prosecutors in Nome dismissed charges of attempted sexual assault in 1982 because an essential witness wasn't credible. Rape charges stemming from a 1985 incident in Anchorage also were dismissed. And in 1986, the state deferred prosecution on charges that Jack had sexual contact with a 10-year-old child in 1982-1983.

Jack also has been convicted of five drunken driving charges and 16 other misdemeanors, including assault and harassment, McLean said.

Jack, in comments to Weeks, questioned some aspects of his history related in the probation office's pre-sentence report, but he didn't say anything about the latest offense.